By Nic Jones Maybe you remember hearing the sentence ‘All men are created equal’ somewhere. If that was written, not many people have read it or believe in it. Because racism is found all around us, we should learn to identify it and become aware of it. Many people don’t even know that they are racist because they rarely come in contact with any other race but their own. The rare times when they do see a person of a different race they shy away from them, or they don’t dare to even look at them. Some people go as far as walking on the other side of the street. These small gestures are racism and have no place in our society. Racism exists all over the world and it is especially prevalent in America. Race has been said to play a part in everything in America. " . . .those who deny it are totally insensitive to the problems in America and the underclass" (Rosen 20). Racism is the belief that race determines one’s traits and capacities and that a particular race is inherently superior or inferior. We as a society need to see everyone as equal and treat them as equals. Racism starts to occur earlier in life than we ever imagined. Small black children are having to learn to deal with oppression when their only worries should be what toy to play with. While these small black children are dealing with racism, other children are being taught to hate all blacks. For example, Cameron Bradley is five years old and goes to pre-school and is teased by the other kids. They often say to him that his skin is dirty. Some parents who may have had a bad experience with blacks or who were also taught to hate them by their parents, are teaching the wrong ideas to their children. Racism is very different for everyone, it depends on where you live. In the larger cities of America, each race is represented. The children who are raised and educated in those cities are familiar with the presence of other races besides their own. Being raised in a multi-racial environment promotes a child’s perception that another race is not inferior to its own. In other cities across America, children are often raised in prominently white communities. When these children come into contact with people of another race, even when they are older, they often do not know how to react. This difference in upbringing leads to ignorance and can result in racism. One’s upbringing has a great effect on if they are racist or not. A parent’s influence has the most profound effect on children, especially in the subject of race. If a parent is racist, their child will grow up with the thought that being racist is right or just the way it is supposed to be, when it most definitely is not. Children learn best by the example of those that they look up to. Many children want to grow up to be just like his or her parents. Therefore, the responsibility of parents needs to be defined more clearly on the subject of racism. Parents should raise their children with the understanding that blacks and whites are equal and that it is not wrong for them to play with a child of another race. If children learn at a young age that other races are not bad, they are just normal, racism can be cut down and eventually eliminated. Religion also tends to have an effect on one’s racial beliefs. In the Old Testament of the King James Version of the Holy Bible, is the history of how dark skin came to pass. The story is told of two brothers, Cain and Abel. Cain was jealous of the love that God and his father had for his brother. He killed Abel because of this great jealousy. Because of his heinous crime, God marked him with dark skin so that everyone would know of his great sin. Many Christian religions believe that all blacks are descendants of Cain; therefore, people feel that they are all evil and it justifies them in being racist towards them. African Americans have been deemed, by some, inferior to other races in many aspects of society. According to author A. Leon Higginbotham, Jr., black inferiority is: "The hate that raged in the American soul through over 240 years of slavery and nearly 90 years of segregation. Once slavery was abolished, and once the more oppressive forms of segregation were eliminated, many whites’ hate still had not lost its immediate object. The ashes of hate have, over the course of so many generations, accumulated at the bottom of our memory. There they lie uneasily, like a heavy secret which whites can never quite confess, which blacks can never quite forgive, and which, for both blacks and whites, forestalls until a distant day any hope of peace and redemption." Higginbotham also insists that pure racism is fueled by sex and religion, rather than by the combination of economic, political and ideological factors (Rosen 3). The fact is that every white person that owned slaves is dead and every black person that was a slave has also died. The feelings during that period of time should also be dead. No white should still treat a black like a slave and no black should be mad at whites for the mistakes of their forefathers. We have all read or heard about how terribly the first Africans in America were treated, but that was hundreds of years ago. Today, blacks are being treated in many of the same ways. They don’t get the same job opportunities as whites and they don’t get the same pay as whites. In general, black people have a lower economic status than whites, a lower life-expectancy, and are more often victims of violent crimes than any other group in the United States (Grcic 404). Thirty-one percent of all black families live in poverty and the overall unemployment rate for blacks is 14 percent, more than double that of whites which is 6 percent (Patterson 4). Racism is impossible to deny; it happens everyday and we just think of it as normal. Even now that it is illegal for people to be racist, racism is still remains. "Four decades after legal segregation began to break down, first in the courts and later through federal legislation, old prejudices remain. Americans regard their black compatriots as less intelligent, less hard working and keener to live off welfare" (Alabama 1). This leads to many problems, including some as serious as death. Many laws have been passed because of not only the prejudices in this country, but also the sensitivity of those who always think they are being discriminated against. Not only has racism affected the home-life of many, the workforce in which blacks are employed have also been threatened by inequality. A law that was passed to end racism in the workforce was affirmative action, which requires that there be a certain number of each ethnic group represented in the workforce. This poses a problem when they are not qualified for the job. We must find new ways to end racism that will be fair and effective for every person of every race. Whites control many of the companies and places of business in America, which is very devastating to many blacks because of corporate policies and leadership that is racist. The companies will only hire white people and tell black people that they are sorry. The Army is one of the only places that blacks seem to have the upper hand. "With more than 30 percent of Army recruits and 10 percent of its officer corps black, the Army, and to a lesser extent the other services, stands out in American society as the only arena in which blacks routinely exercise authority over whites" (Patterson 2). Racism seems to appear in the place where it most obviously shouldn’t. It appears heavily in the courtroom. For some reason blacks are considered to be more adapted to commit crime. Racism appears very evident in the trials of blacks, especially when the death penalty is a possibility. "Societal racism, even unintentionally, often affects the adjudicatory and fact-finding process of courts" (Rosen 8). In the case of murder, a study showed that a man convicted of killing a white person is three times as likely to be penalized by death than a man convicted of killing a black person (Capital Punishment 2). In an authoritative study by Prof. David Baldus of the University of Iowa, " . . .defendants who killed white victims in Georgia were 11 times more likely to be sentenced to death than those who killed blacks, and that blacks who killed whites were sentenced to die seven times more often than whites who killed blacks." Other studies have shown that a majority of convicted killers would not have been sentenced to die if their victims had been black. The Baldus study was a statistical study that examined over 2,000 murder cases during the 1970s in Georgia. "Prosecutors sought the death penalty in:
The study also showed that:
The death penalty was imposed in:
Defendants charged with killing white victims were 4.3 times as likely to receive a death sentences as defendants charged with killing blacks" (Supreme 1-3). There is no reason for a black man to killed more often than a white man. The value of a black man’s life is no more or less valuable than the life of a white man. Whether it be sentencing a black man to death over a white man, or determining the consequences greater for killing a white man than those for killing a black man, no one has the authority to put a higher value on one life than another, especially based on the color of one’s skin. The state of Virginia enacted a statute in the late 1800s that it was not illegal for a white plantation owner to kill one of his black slaves if the slave was defiant to authority. The slave was considered his masters’ property and just like any old piece of furniture, for example, the owner could destroy if he felt it necessary. Basically, Virginia society during this time accepted the idea and viewed blacks as being "not quite human"(Rosen 3). Does our society still feel the same way? Should whites still be able to destroy blacks if they want? Just as racism should not prevail in the courtroom, it should not prevail in the law enforcement systems. But, just as prejudices are evident in trials, they can be seen in the actions taken by everyday police officers. "The typical white police officer holds all blacks in suspicion and treats them in a manner that constantly threatens their dignity and most basic rights." Partly due to the high dropout rate of inner-city schools, drug abuse, and crime, one in three of all black men, age 25 to 29 are under the supervision of the criminal justice system (Patterson 4-5). " . . .since the white majority can never transcend its racist perspectives, formally neutral laws will continue to fuel white domination" (Rosen 1). Even though laws are made to be color-blind, many police officers don’t see it that way. Not only is racism harmful to the societies where it is present, it is very harmful to people directly affected by or involved with it. It not only damages one’s emotional health, but has been proven to harm one’s physical health as well. One man expressed his idea of how racism feels in this way: "To say I have been a victim of racism means that they have got me by the balls, and that the pain is so much that I have to scream out" (Dawes 2). "The stress from living in a racist society causes African Americans to be physically ill with rates of disease such as hypertension" (Derrick 1). A study conducted at Duke University Medical Center brought 30 healthy Black women together with a White experimenter. These women debated on two controversial topics, one of them being race. When faced with racist remarks, many of the black women showed an increase in blood pressure and heart rate. These symptoms, which also appeared in non-racial debates, lasted much longer and were much stronger in the race-related debates. The Harvard School of Public Health conducted a similar study. Their research showed that Blacks who challenge and speak up against discrimination and racism have lower blood pressure levels than those who do not attempt to confront or fight it (Derrick 1). These studies prove two major points. The first suggests that the stress as a result of racism may be one reason that Blacks are twice as likely as Whites to develop hypertension. The second proves that challenging racism and speaking up against it may be the best medicine for fighting racial bias (Derrick 1). There is one major idea that everyone needs to realize. American is not a race. Everyone in America is an immigrant, with the exception of the Native Americans. Many people were brought unwillingly to America and many came for the unbridled freedom. With the racism that exists today, that freedom is put into shackles. America is a huge melting pot with an enormous number of races and ethnic groups represented. All who live in America are Americans, and all have the right to be treated as a native countryman. There is not one specific race that is in ownership of America. Without ownership, there is no right for any race to rule over another. "The prestige of color-blindness is diminishing in America, and not only among people of color. This is a disaster. For we will be blind to color or we will be blind to justice" (Rosen 30). America will never truly be a free country unless we can learn to look past the color of one’s skin and see that we all look the same when we are naked. Naked, not only meaning we are without clothing, but without a shell covering the people inside. Until that day, someone will always feel that they are inferior while others feel superior.
Works Cited "Alabama Isn’t So Different." The Economist. Vol. 345 Issue 8039. Oct. 18, 1997: p.o.1-3. "Capital Punishment." World News Digest. Dec. 20, 1985: p.o. 1-2. Dawes, Kwame. "Clothed against Naked Racism." World Press Review. Vol. 43 Issue 4. Apr. 1996: p.o.1-4. Derrick, Rachel Christmas. "Healing the Wounds of Racism: how to prevent prejudice from harming your health." Essence. Vol. 27 Issue 11. Mar 1997: p.o. 1-3. Grcic, Joseph. Moral Choices: Ethical Theories and Problems. West Publishing Company. St. Paul, MN. 1989: 404-405. Patterson, Orlando. "The Paradox of Integration." New Republic. Vol. 213 Issue 19. Nov. 6, 1995: p.o.1-8. Rosen, Jeffery. "The Bloods and the Crits." New Republic. Vol. 215 Issue 24. Dec. 9, 1996: p.o. 1-30. "Supreme Court Rejects Race Bias Challenge to Death Penalty." World News Digest. Apr. 24, 1987: p.o.1-3.
Annotated Bibliography "Alabama Isn’t So Different." The Economist. Vol. 345 Issue 8039. Oct. 18, 1997: p.o.1-3. This talks about how most Americans regard Alabama and the South as a bad spot on the racial map. "Bush Deplores Political Correctness." World News Digest. May. 16, 1991: p.o. 1-2. President Bush gave a speech at the University of Michigan to expand the rights for minorities and other groups. "Capital Punishment." World News Digest. Dec. 20, 1985: p.o. 1-2. This was a very short article that talked about different cases of black men and their trials in court. "Dartmouth Condemns Newspaper." World News Digest. Jul. 2, 1982: p.o. 1-2. This was about a paper at Dartmouth that had a lot of racial things in it towards blacks and black students. Dawes, Kwame. "Clothed against Naked Racism." World Press Review. Vol. 43 Issue 4. Apr. 1996: p.o.1-4. This talks about how whites and blacks rarely sit down and talk honestly about racism. Derrick, Rachel Christmas. "Healing the Wounds of Racism: how to prevent prejudice from harming your health." Essence. Vol. 27 Issue 11. Mar 1997: p.o. 1-3. This article talks about how the stress from living in a racist society causes blacks to be physically ill and have many other problems. "Education." World News Digest. Jun. 10, 1993: p.o. 1-2. This talks about how a white man shouted racial things toward a black woman and the things that happened. Foster, Michael. Personal Interview. Mar. 18, 1998. He is one of my best friends and we discussed racism and its affects. Grcic, Joseph. Moral Choices: Ethical Theories and Problems. West Publishing Company. St. Paul, MN. 1989: 404-405. This was an article out of my philosophy book and it talked about the problems blacks face in America. "Other Supreme Court News." World News Digest. Jun. 25, 1992: p.o. 1-2. This talked about certain court cases where blacks were discriminated against. Patterson, Orlando. "The Paradox of Integration." New Republic. Vol. 213 Issue 19. Nov. 6, 1995: p.o.1-8. This tells how blacks were not apart of the nation until a few years ago and now that they are they are still not getting treated like it. "People." World News Digest. Dec. 19, 1986: p.o. 1-2. This talks about all kinds of stories involving all kinds of people, one of which was of a police sheriff that ordered his men to randomly stop blacks driving in white neighborhoods. Perkins, Daisy. Personal Interview. Mar. 20, 1998. She was my girlfriend at the time and so I asked her view on racism and how it effects America. Rosen, Jeffery. "The Bloods and the Crits." New Republic. Vol. 215 Issue 24. Dec. 9, 1996: p.o. 1-30. This article talks about racism and how people in the media either help it or fuel it, like O.J. Simpson. "Supreme Court Rejects Race Bias Challenge to Death Penalty." World News Digest. Apr. 24, 1987: p.o.1-3. This gave the facts on the death penalty of whites and blacks in the Baldus study showing that blacks were more likely to be put to death. Justification Sheet
|